The Meek Are Gettin' Ready

One of my favorite songs from the early 80's was from an album by the folk singer, Holly Near. The song was called "The Meek Are Gettin' Ready." It was a song that cast that passage from the Sermon on the Mount: "The meek shall inherit the earth" -- in a whole new way. "The Meek are Gettin' Ready" was a challenge to the powers of this world.

This morning I led devotions out at the Day Camp that is held every year out at Marott Park. I stood and watched as the kids played Keep Away in a giant circle, with a bean bag. Then we all gathered together -- in lines a bit like calisthenics in gym class when I was a kid. We sang and made hand motions and moved our bodies to the music. It was all good. When I led the devotions I taught the young 'un's a passage from I Corinthians. It's not usually included in "memory passages" - but it goes "God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God's weakness is stronger than human strength." I then went on to tell them the rest of the text that talked about how God purposely chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the strong, and God purposely chose what the world considers foolish in order to shame the wise, and how God purposely chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks of as nothing in order to destroy what the world thinks of as important. I told them that, because I thought that perhaps they would hear this as good news. Maybe this wasn't the right idea to be talking with them about...but I still hoped they might hear it that way.

I thought of the discussion I had with an intern candidate from CTS on Tuesday afternoon. He's a social worker as he prepares for the ordained ministry, so we sparred (very good naturedly) about the difference between social work and ministry. I happen to think that there is a huge difference. I think that social workers are much more content to work with children or adults in isolation...while the ministry of churches understands that work with children or adults is only one piece of a larger perspective. While in the church we might work with children, for example, we would never do that in isolation from the rest of their family.

That's because churches are communities, while social workers don't operate from a community base. They operate from an office. Everyone there is an employee. No one is there ONLY because they care or because they choose to be there. At least some are there because they are paid to be there (that's not a bad thing - but it's not the same thing as choosing to be there -- so says the paid religious professional on the premises of the church building).

I met with some folks from the congregation in separate conversations on Wednesday. Most of them are going through some very real personal struggles. But that wasn't why any of us were meeting. We were meeting because they had some work to do and they wanted me to know about what they were doing. I thought of them, I thought of those young people this morning, and I thought of the folks getting ready to take our summer program, JCAMP, in a new direction this summer (that new direction is to focus on our neighbors as teachers -- neighbors, who are parents and family members of many of those in the program).

I think to myself -- yes, indeed the Meek are Gettin' Ready -- and we in the church (I mean not only Broadway, but larger Christendom) best be ready ourselves to join with the children who are leading us. I thought of that today when I met with Kirk Taylor who is working to prepare himself to head off to Johannesburg, South Africa this December as part of a Global Youth Convocation for United Methodists. I was reminded as I am almost every time I am around him of the real giftedness of this young man -- of his intensity and insight. But also of the ways in which he still doesn't see and know all the abundance that is bursting out of him. But he will know. The Meek Are Gettin' Ready.